Today the Government announced that the electrification of the TransPennine and Midland Mainline railways will be going ahead after recently being put on pause. It was announced that Network Rail will be working with the Department for Transport and Rail North to develop a new plan for electrification of the TransPennine line between Stalybridge and Leeds and on to York and Selby to focus on delivering key passenger benefits as quickly as possible.
Julian Smith MP said: "It is brilliant news that the electrification work on the TransPennine route will be going ahead. Not only will this start to deliver key benefits as soon as possible, but it is also an improvement on the previous plan which only changed the power supply of the trains. For those living, commuting and working in North Yorkshire, these plans will provide a significant improvement on journey times with capacity for six fast trains per hour. I am really pleased that the Government is pushing ahead with its commitment to providing better infrastructure for the North as part of its plan to build a Northern powerhouse."
The new plan will deliver faster journey times, and significantly more capacity between Manchester, Leeds and York. The upgrade is expected to provide capacity for six fast or semi-fast trains per hour, take up to 15 minutes off today's journey time between Manchester and York and be complete by 2022. When the work is finished, the whole route from Liverpool to Newcastle (via Manchester, Leeds and York) will be fully electrified and journey times will be significantly reduced compared to today's railways.
